30 Day Grid Down Food Prep Challenge.

[arakboss]

For the Month of March (minus one day), I am not going to use any electricity for my food prep or storage needs. No electric range/oven, microwave, fridge, freezer, coffee maker, blender, mixer, toaster, instant-pot, etc. All my food storage will have to be shelf stable and all heating will have to be done on camp stove/oven using propane or some other non-electric heat source.

I am going to aim for 60 grams of protein and around 2400 calories total a day. Please share any suggestions for items that are shelf stable, use very little or no energy to prepare and are not very expensive.

For this challenge, healthiness of foods will be taking a backseat to my other criteria of being shelf stable, inexpensive and most importantly have little to no energy requirement for preparation. I would like a variety too.

All food will be purchased prior to March 1st and I will not be making another trip to the grocery store for the entire month of March. I will edit this post Sunday Feb 28th to list my grocery haul.

I am going to rely on city water for this challenge but I am going to use up our current water storage and replace it with fresh jugs.

The idea is to practice food storage ideas and prepartion in case we have a few weeks with out power over the entire metro area. It seems plausible that could happen if the big one hits in my lifetime.

Edit 2/25:

Here is a photo of the propane tank I will be using for my 30 day challenge. It weighed in right at 30 pounds gross weight. Hopefully I don't run out before day 30.





Edit 2/28: I weighed this evening and tipped the scale at 250.6 pounds. That is around 3lbs lighter than my last weigh in a couple of weeks ago. I am aiming for 2400 calories a day and using My Fitness Pal to keep track of calories and protein.

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[arakboss]

If you were one of the unlucky ones who was without power how did you prepare food at home without any electricity? What type of foods did you eat?

 

[Certaindeaf]

 

[arakboss]

I plan on getting a couple of cans of the canned cheese. Winco's store brand is pretty good and much cheaper than the name brand. I love block chesse though so I am going to buy a couple of two pound blocks and see how they hold up on garage shelf. I am also wondering how long I could store eggs on the garage shelf. They are pretty cheap these days and cook fast.

 

[arakboss]

This couple did a similiar challenge and this video describes the various cooking methods they used. I am going to rely on a propane camp stove for 99% of my cooking. I already have it and it's what I use at my cabin.

 

[orygun]

Great idea. I'd suppose many others are thinking about being a bit more prepared after this last fiasco.
We finally got power back on the evening of the 9th day, which was last Sunday. But I "cheated". We have a motorhome.
I'd kept a full tank of fuel, but was a little short on propane and water. This time water was easy. Propane took a couple of days to find.
Nice eye-opener on what could happen.

 

[slimmer13]

Sounds awful. You do what you gotta do when you have to. Doing so voluntarily isn't something I'd sign up for.

 

[P7M13]

Excellent idea.
Gotta practice to preach.
Two suggestions :

1. Buy only 25 days worth of food (unless you're already at fighting trim weight). Calculate the rationing, and stick to it.
2. If you have a back yard, make a fire pit, and require that 1/4 - 1/6th of your meals be cooked over an open fire. Building fires in the rain is a skill few have.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I do pretty much the same thing, but only for 1 week each quarter. I don't have any suggestions on store bought food since we grow/raise everything we eat, but I would suggest keeping a detailed daily log of your adventure. It's easy to forget the little lessons you learn when you do something like this, and this is one that proves that the devil is in the details.

And, kudos to you for having the foresight and fortitude to test yourself and your preps.

 

[Stomper]

Listen to Chester Cheetah say: It ain't easy being cheesy!

 

[Stomper]

For the Month of March (minus one day), I am not going to use any electricity for my food prep or storage needs. No electric range/oven, microwave, fridge, freezer, coffee maker, blender, mixer, toaster, instant-pot, etc. All my food storage will have to be shelf stable and all heating will have to be done on camp stove/oven using propane or some other non-electric heat source.

I am going to aim for 60 grams of protein and around 2400 calories total a day. Please share any suggestions for items that are shelf stable, use very little or no energy to prepare and are not very expensive.

For this challenge, healthiness of foods will be taking a backseat to my other criteria of being shelf stable, inexpensive and most importantly have little to no energy requirement for preparation. I would like a variety too.

All food will be purchased prior to March 1st and I will not be making another trip to the grocery store for the entire month of March. I will edit this post Sunday Feb 28th to list my grocery haul.

I am going to rely on city water for this challenge but I am going to use up our current water storage and replace it with fresh jugs.

The idea is to practice food storage ideas and prepartion in case we have a few weeks with out power over the entire metro area. It seems plausible that could happen if the big one hits in my lifetime.

Other than actually gaining weight, what's your reason for 2.4K cals/day? I'd be planning on 1.8-2k cals/day (and in extreme circumstances one meal a day) unless I knew I had some serious physical work, like cutting/splitting wood (that I'm actually doing, but not everyday all day) from all the trees being damaged in the ice storm, but even then I'd keep it maxed at 2.2k cals/day for that.


One suggestion:

Believe it or not, canned tuna is just about the best "protein bang" for your buck. It's already cooked, it's versatile, and when eaten on crackers also gives you needed carbs.

Sounds awful. You do what you gotta do when you have to. Doing so voluntarily isn't something I'd sign up for.

One should endeavor to "sweat in training rather than bleed in combat".

Meaning, it isn't just about the physical hardships.... it's also about the "mental grind" and preparing/exercising your mind to become disciplined to adapt and overcome.

Advanced military schools are 85-90% mentality, the 10-15% physical part is "easy", because where your mind goes your body WILL follow. There's a reason basic and advanced military training schools are "meat grinders".... you don't take someone off the street, slap them in battle rattle, then 10 minutes later expect them to take on Republican Guard, PLA, or Spetsnaz troops...

Doing a little training outside one's "comfort zone" can reveal a LOT of vulnerabilities you may have never known you had.... and when the "balloon pops" is NOT the optimal time to discover them.

 

[arakboss]

Other than actually gaining weight, what's your reason for 2.4K cals/day? I'd be planning on 1.8-2k cals/day (and in extreme circumstances one meal a day) unless I knew I had some serious physical work, like cutting/splitting wood (that I'm actually doing, but not everyday all day) from all the trees being damaged in the ice storm, but even then I'd keep it maxed at 2.2k cals/day for that.


One suggestion:

Believe it or not, canned tuna is just about the best "protein bang" for your buck. It's already cooked, it's versatile, and eaten on crackers also gives you needed carbs.





One should endeavor to "sweat in training rather than bleed in combat".

Meaning, it isn't just about the physical hardships.... it's also about the "mental grind" and preparing/exercising your mind to become disciplined to adapt and overcome.

Advanced military schools are 85-90% mentality, the 10-15% physical part is "easy", because where your mind goes your body WILL follow. There's a reason basic and advanced military training schools are "meat grinders".... you don't take someone off the street, slap them in battle rattle, then 10 minutes later expect them to take on Republican Guard, PLA, or Spetsnaz troops...

Doing a little training outside one's "comfort zone" can reveal a LOT of vulnerabilities you may have never known you had.... and when the "balloon pops" is NOT the optimal time to discover them.

Agreed! And I have learned from previous prep shopping that you can end up buying a lot of food that seems like a good option at the time and then it ends up going to waste. I think this experience will help me make better selections in the store.

 

[kenboy]

So your wife finally kicked you into the garage for a month.........that's what happens when you pile your crap on the treadmill.

 

[Stomper]

So your wife finally kicked you into the garage for a month.........that's what happens when you pile your crap on the treadmill.

Which was probably kept in her "she-shed", aka "sewing room"....

 

[41mag]

I'd include quinoa, peanut butter, tuna, wax covered cheeses, basic camper kitchen tools. Make sourdough. Lotsa root Veggies. Various teas. Cast iron cookery over outdoor flames. Cowbiy coffee. One pot meals. Sounds challenging in urban setting.

Keep us posted.

 

[slimmer13]

Other than actually gaining weight, what's your reason for 2.4K cals/day? I'd be planning on 1.8-2k cals/day (and in extreme circumstances one meal a day) unless I knew I had some serious physical work, like cutting/splitting wood (that I'm actually doing, but not everyday all day) from all the trees being damaged in the ice storm, but even then I'd keep it maxed at 2.2k cals/day for that.


One suggestion:

Believe it or not, canned tuna is just about the best "protein bang" for your buck. It's already cooked, it's versatile, and when eaten on crackers also gives you needed carbs.





One should endeavor to "sweat in training rather than bleed in combat".

Meaning, it isn't just about the physical hardships.... it's also about the "mental grind" and preparing/exercising your mind to become disciplined to adapt and overcome.

Advanced military schools are 85-90% mentality, the 10-15% physical part is "easy", because where your mind goes your body WILL follow. There's a reason basic and advanced military training schools are "meat grinders".... you don't take someone off the street, slap them in battle rattle, then 10 minutes later expect them to take on Republican Guard, PLA, or Spetsnaz troops...

Doing a little training outside one's "comfort zone" can reveal a LOT of vulnerabilities you may have never known you had.... and when the "balloon pops" is NOT the optimal time to discover them.

I don't know, I probably go 3-4 weeks a year living primitively anyway between power outages, backpacking trips and SAR stuff. That's enough for me. Going a month eating cheese whiz and crackers just because sounds awful. I mean it probably has some training benefits, but I'd rather combine it with stuff I like doing.

 

[Stomper]

I don't know, I probably go 3-4 weeks a year living primitively anyway between power outages, backpacking trips and SAR stuff. That's enough for me. Going a month eating cheese whiz and crackers just because sounds awful. I mean it probably has some training benefits, but I'd rather combine it with stuff I like doing.

I hear ya (& good on ya for getting "out and about"!!), but practicing those skills under "duress" rather than when you're "enjoying" yourself puts a whole new level on things, and some people are just "wired to remain calm" (but most aren't). That's all I'm saying.

 

[Howard1955]

 

[Howard1955]

The part about carrot storage starts at about 5 minutes on the counter.

 

[Howard1955]

I'm told that my wife's Grandparents stored apples by burying them in sawdust. I don't know if they wrapped them individually, like the woman in this video is doing.